VVS’ Nick Metzger (10) battles for a loose ball with Oneida’s Jeffrey Coulter (5) and Tyler Kuhn (40) during the first half of their game on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013 in Oneida.
JOHN HAEGER – ONEIDA DAILY DISPATCH @ONEIDAPHOTO ON TWITTER

VVS’ Dalton Cousin (22) battles for the loose ball with Oneida’s Travis Moyer (21) and Tyler Kuhn (40) during the first half of their game on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013 in Oneida.
JOHN HAEGER – ONEIDA DAILY DISPATCH @ONEIDAPHOTO ON TWITTER

ONEIDA >> Rivals Oneida and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill met on the boys basketball court on Saturday under circumstances neither wanted to be in. Playing in the consolation game of the NBT Bank-Oneida Sports Boosters Shootout, one would even its record at 1-1 while the other would fall to 0-2 to start the season.

Thanks in large part to 12 consecutive points from Travis Moyer, Oneida prevailed.

Moyer scored his first basket late in the third quarter and opened the fourth with five unanswered points, spurring Oneida to a 48-40 victory over the Red Devils. The junior led Oneida with 14 points while Tyler Kuhn scored nine and grabbed 16 rebounds.

“I thought we got a really nice spark from Travis Moyer tonight,” said Oneida head coach Jeff Didio. “Personally, I think he was the difference in the game. He had a couple nice rebounds, he played hard, had a couple steals on the defensive end and he made a couple threes.”

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Both teams struggled offensively in the first quarter in their openers Friday night, with VVS scoring eight points in the opening frame with Oneida tallying just four. Saturday afternoon was much different as Oneida bolted out to a 6-0 lead, thanks in part to a free throw and 3-pointer by Rory McCarthy. VVS fought back with two 3-pointers from Matt McCoy and one from Nick Metzger to make the score 15-11 after the first quarter.

The teams returned to their low-scoring ways in the second. The Red Devils cut the Oneida lead to 15-14 on a Dalton Cousin basket and a free throw by Zack Durant before McCarthy made it a four-point game with another 3-pointer.

The one-point deficit would be as close as VVS would get, although it stayed competitive to the very end. Oneida opened up a 28-19 lead in the third quarter on field goals by Kuhn and Nate Carinci, along with a pair of free throws by Canyon Hicks. McCoy’s third 3-pointer cut the lead to 28-22 and that’s when Moyer began to take over. He made two baskets before the end of the period, allowing Oneida to hold a 32-29 lead entering the fourth quarter.

After Oneida struggled mightily on offense in the fourth quarter on Friday, Moyer made sure it didn’t happen again. He opened the period with a 3-pointer and added another basket moments later, stretching Oneida’s lead to eight points.

“Those were very important,” said Moyer. “If we didn’t do that, I don’t know how the game would have came out.”

Still, the Red Devils refused to quit. Cousin, the team’s leading scorer on Friday, scored VVS’ first eight points in the quarter, the last cutting the lead to 44-37. VVS head coach Robert Esposito called timeout with 1:09 to play, instructing his team to play pressure defense and foul. The strategy worked as Oneida missed the front end of three straight 1-and-1s. A long 2-pointer by Metzger and a free throw by Christian Tiffin made it a four-point game with 46.3 seconds to play. Hicks was fouled on the next possession and made one free throw and after a stop, Kuhn made two more. Hicks capped the scoring with one more foul shot, securing the Oneida victory.

“It feels great, especially against VVS,” said Kuhn. “They’re a great team and been our rivals for, since, ever. It just feels great to get the victory.”

Kuhn was named to the all-tournament team, as was Cousin, who tallied 10 point and 12 rebounds Saturday. McCoy led the Red Devils with 11 points.

About the Author

Kyle Mennig, sports editor for the Oneida Dispatch, originally hails from Munnsville. Kyle graduated from Geneseo State in 2008 and covers local sporting events, focusing on area high schools. Reach the author at kmennig@oneidadispatch.com
or follow Kyle on Twitter: @DispatchKyle.